In March 1899, Arcadia's village board appropriated $200 for the establishment of the Arcadia Free Public Library. The library, housed in a room on the second floor of the village hall, opened to the public on July 25, 1899. At the onset, the Arcadia Free Public Library owned 539 volumes.

In the early 1900's the increasing demand on the makeshift library prompted Frank Richmond, the secretary for the library board and an attorney in Arcadia, to request an appropriation from Andrew Carnegie to construct a separate library building. By Febrary of 1905, Andrew Carnegie approved a donation of $5,000 to construct a library facility in Arcadia.

On July 9, 1907, the building was dedicated during an open house. The Arcadia Free Public Library was listed in the National Register and State Register of Historic Places on April 29, 1994.